The Roane County Board of Education’s plan to build a new consolidated high school is still alive.

The architectural firm the board hired to put it together gave an update last month.

“Currently we are evaluating a number of sites adjacent to Roane State Community College as was directed by the school board,” said Richard Foster, director of design for Lewis Group Architects. “All of them are smaller than I think typical, but we’re looking to kind of maximize efficiency and see what we can fit on there.”

Gentle reader: As this is written, both houses of the Congress have passed their respective versions of the Republican Tax Bill, and they will each designate members to meet together in a joint committee (which may well have already happened by the time this column is published) to reconcile the two bills and produce a final version of the legislation, which will then be returned to the two houses for final action, which is probably a foregone outcome of adoption.

The man shot by a police officer on Christmas Eve pleaded guilty in Roane County Criminal Court on Friday.

Joshua McDaniel Scarlett was charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and evading arrest. He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. The remaining two charges were dismissed as part of his plea agreement.